Story highlights

The same day, they release video documents tying Michael Brown to store robbery

Brown's family, activists criticize how the Ferguson police have handled the case

The Ferguson police officer who shot Michael Brown didn't stop him because he was suspected in a convenience-store robbery, but because he was "walking down the middle of the street blocking traffic," the city's police chief said Friday.

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson -- hours after documents came out labeling the 18-year-old Brown as the "primary suspect" in the store theft -- told reporters the "robbery does not relate to the initial contact between the officer and Michael Brown."

So why did Ferguson police opt to release surveillance video of the convenience-store incident Friday -- the same day they named, six days after the shooting, the white police officer who fatally shot the African-American teenager -- if the two situations aren't related?

Jackson said he distributed the store videotape "because the press asked for it," noting he couldn't withhold it indefinitely.

The chief added "we needed to release that at the same time we needed to release the name of the officer involved in the shooting," though he didn't elaborate on why. Identifying the officer was one key demand of demonstrators, along with pressing for other details on the shooting amid allegations of a police coverup.

Chief: Officer maybe saw stolen cigars

Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Protesters march in Ferguson, Missouri, on Thursday, August 21. The St. Louis suburb has been in turmoil since a white police officer, Darren Wilson, fatally shot an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, on August 9. Some protesters and law enforcement officers have clashed in the streets, leading to injuries and arrests.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A crowd gathers in Ferguson on August 21. With the situation appearing to calm, Gov. Jay Nixon ordered the Missouri National Guard to begin withdrawing from the city.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police escort a Wilson supporter to a police vehicle, away from crowds protesting Brown's death on Wednesday, August 20. Police have said Brown and Wilson struggled over the officer's gun; some witnesses said Brown had his hands in the air when he was shot.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Lightning streaks over protesters on August 20.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Demonstrators protest on August 20.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder meets with Capt. Ron Johnson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol at a Ferguson restaurant on August 20. Holder came to Missouri to talk to community leaders and review the federal civil rights investigation into Brown's shooting.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Protesters march through the streets of Ferguson on August 20.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police point out a demonstrator who has his arms raised before moving in to arrest him Tuesday, August 19.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – People watch from inside a restaurant as protesters rally August 19.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police arrest a demonstrator on August 19.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police charge into the media work area with weapons drawn as they try to control demonstrators on August 19.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A protester speaks to a police officer on August 19.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – People on August 19 stand near a memorial where Brown was shot and killed.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Protesters march on August 19.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police watch as protesters march August 19.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A demonstrator is arrested on August 19.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police try to control protesters on Monday, August 18.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police lead a man away during a protest August 18.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A demonstrator shouts during a protest on West Florissant Avenue, one of Ferguson's main streets, on August 18.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Capt. Ron Johnson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol pulls his men back from aggressive protesters on August 18.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police arrest a demonstrator August 18 after peaceful protests gave way to angry confrontations with authorities.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Law enforcement officers stand guard during a protest on West Florissant Avenue on August 18.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A woman helps a man affected by tear gas August 18. The situation overnight deteriorated after a handful of protesters threw rocks, bottles and Molotov cocktails at police. Officers responded by firing stun grenades and tear gas canisters.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Officers stand with weapons drawn during a protest on West Florissant Avenue on August 18.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Musician Nelly, center, joins demonstrators in Ferguson on August 18.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Demonstrators receive red roses as they protest August 18.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Demonstrators march on August 18.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – The Rev. Jesse Jackson shakes hands with a police officer as he visits Ferguson's demonstration area on August 18.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A protester picks up a tear gas canister on Sunday, August 17.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police wait to advance after using tear gas to disperse protesters August 17.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Water gets poured into a woman's eyes after a tear gas attack by police on August 17.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A man runs through clouds of tear gas on August 17.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Protesters react as police fire tear gas at them August 17.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police advance through a cloud of tear gas on August 17. Most of the crowd had dispersed after a curfew went into effect at midnight, St. Louis County authorities said.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – People take cover from tear gas inside a McDonald's on August 17.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A large group of police officers advance toward protesters on August 17.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A man fights the effects of tear gas in Ferguson on August 17.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Michael Brown Sr. and Lesley McSpadden, the parents of Michael Brown, attend a rally at Greater Grace Church in Ferguson on August 17.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – The Rev. Al Sharpton hugs McSpadden during the rally.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Capt. Ron Johnson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol speaks at the rally. He had been appointed by the governor to take control of security operations.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Demonstrators defy a curfew early on August 17.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police fire tear gas at demonstrators after curfew on August 17.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A law enforcement officer aims his rifle August 17 after tear gas was fired to disperse a crowd.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – People scramble as police fire tear gas on August 17.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Law enforcement officers check a building on August 17.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – People attend a protest after the midnight curfew on August 17.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A law enforcement officer watches as tear gas is fired to disperse a crowd on August 17.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police stand guard before the midnight curfew on Saturday, August 16.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – People loot the Ferguson Market and Liquor store on August 16. Several businesses were looted as police held their positions nearby.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Missouri State Highway Patrol officers listen to taunts from demonstrators during a protest on Friday, August 15.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Demonstrators protest with their hands up on August 15. The "hands up" gesture has become a symbol in protests as Brown, according to eyewitnesses, was trying to surrender when he was shot multiple times.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police confront demonstrators on August 15.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A demonstrator throws a tear gas canister back at police on August 15.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police confront demonstrators on August 15.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Thousands of demonstrators march down a Ferguson street with members of the St. Louis County Police and the Missouri State Highway Patrol on Thursday, August 14.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Demonstrators hold signs as traffic moves slowly past them on August 14.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson smiles at demonstrators on August 14. Johnson was appointed to lead security as state troopers took over after days of clashes between protesters and local police.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – The Rev. Traci Blackmon uses a megaphone to talk to a large group of demonstrators on August 14.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A man picks up a flaming bottle and prepares to throw it as a line of police advance in the distance on Wednesday, August 13.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police stand in clouds of smoke as they clash with protesters on August 13.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – An Al-Jazeera television crew runs for cover as police fire tear gas at its position on August 13. Video and images on social media showed police later breaking down the journalists' gear.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A protester runs from tear gas exploding around him on August 13.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police stand guard among demonstrators on August 13.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson fields questions during a news conference on August 13.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A small group of protesters block traffic in the street before police arrived on August 13.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A protester throws a tear gas canister back toward police on August 13.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police detain a man on Tuesday, August 12.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – People congregate at the Greater St. Marks Family Church in St. Louis along with the family of Michael Brown and the Rev. Al Sharpton on August 12.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Michael Brown Sr. stands alongside Sharpton, right, during a news conference in St. Louis on August 12.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Demonstrators protest August 12 in Ferguson.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A makeshift memorial sits in the middle of the street where Michael Brown was shot and killed.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A woman tries to calm an emotional protester during a demonstration outside the headquarters of the Ferguson Police Department on August 11.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Phaedra Parks, left, comforts Desuirea Harris, the grandmother of Michael Brown, during a news conference in Jennings, Missouri, on August 11.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police officers arrest a man who refused to leave when police cleared streets in Ferguson on August 11.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – A burned-out QuikTrip gas station smolders on August 11 after protesters looted and burned the Ferguson building the night before.

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Emotions run high in Ferguson, Missouri – Police officers and protesters confront each other on Saturday, August 9, the same day Michael Brown was shot and killed.

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EXPAND GALLERY

The flurry of details Friday added intrigue and, in some ways, anger to a case that's spurred protests in the St. Louis suburb and beyond among those upset by Brown's shooting and what they decry as a heavy-handed police response afterward.

"It's a diversion, and it's an attempt to smear Michael's character," said Davis, who added the family has "not been happy" with the Ferguson police department's handling of the case. "... It (should be) more about what happened on Canfield Drive, where Michael was executed."

"I told (Chief Jackson) I think both of those being released today was not needed and was not the way that we needed to go," he told CNN on Friday evening. "Today is about taking care of this incident here, getting to those facts that are there, and Michael Brown and his family."

Hours earlier, in video captured by CNN affiliate KSDK, Johnson emphasized authorities have an obligation to be upfront, not to say "some things and now everybody says, 'what does that mean?'"

Police identified the officer who shot Michael Brown as 28-year-old Darren Wilson -- a six-year police veteran, including four years with the Ferguson force. Authorities had refused to name him, citing threats to his safety.

The fact they have now done so satisfies a major demand of protesters. But many remain perturbed that additional details have not come out about Brown's shooting.

What the police chief did do on Friday was express "every confidence" in Wilson, who had one side of his face swollen in his encounter with Brown, according to authorities.

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That includes the surveillance video, which shows a large African-American man pushing aside a smaller man who seemingly tries to stop him, then leaving the store. Crump said the larger man "appears to be" Michael Brown.

Newly released police documents claim the teenager roughly handled a clerk trying to stop him before walking out of the store with the box of Swisher Sweets.

Jackson, the Ferguson police chief, told CNN that Wilson confronted Brown for being in the road, not the robbery.

"I guess that is when he might have seen ... evidence and connected it" to the robbery, Jackson said -- without explicitly tying the two incidents together himself.

Relative: Actions 'fueled the distrust' toward police

A key complaint of protesters has been -- while police have said the shooting occurred during a struggle for the officer's gun -- witnesses say the officer shot Brown as the teenager stood with his hands in the air.

Tiffany Mitchell, who saw what happened, told CNN that "it looked as if Michael was pushing off and the cop was trying to pull him in." Instead, a shot went off, the teen broke free, and the officer got out of the vehicle and ran about 20 feet in pursuit, she and co-worker Piaget Crenshaw said.

Another man, Dorian Johnson, said he was with Brown at the time of the shooting and that police shot Brown without provocation.

"We wasn't committing any crime, bringing no harm to nobody, but my friend was murdered in cold blood," he told CNN affiliate KMOV.

Jackson confirmed to reporters Friday that Johnson, at least, "did not commit a crime and was not complicit in a crime."

The information released Friday seems unlikely to quell the anger in the eastern Missouri city or elsewhere. Eric Davis, speaking for Brown's family, expects the opposite will be the case -- even as he stressed that any protests must remain peaceful.

"This (police) chief ... is just inciting the crowd and making everybody angry," Davis said. "It just fueled the distrust that was already out there for the Ferguson police department."

Yet there were also some who said the robbery is not necessarily irrelevant to what happened next.

"A robbery doesn't justify shooting Mike Brown, but it definitely changes your perspective on his mindset at the time of police encounter," read one Twitter post from @OneTermTooMany.

The full, complicated story has stirred an intense, nationwide discussion on race in the United States, and on the shooting itself as well as the response to demonstrators afterward. Accusers accused some protesters of violence and looting, while many on the other side have ripped what they call an over-the-top, militarized police response.

So what's next?

There's still the possibility that action -- including, potentially, criminal charges -- could be taken against Officer Wilson. Then there's the potential for political fall-out affecting Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon or Ferguson's police chief.

And there's still a lot of anger about the shooting and the ensuing police response, and there are many angry people on the streets. A major rally is set for Sunday to demand action by authorities.

"This situation has been handled very badly," civil rights leader Jesse Jackson said Friday from Ferguson. "People here must turn their pain into power."

Undeterred by rain, people still made their voices heard Friday night on the streets of Ferguson -- some raising their hands up high, like they say Brown did before being shot dead by Officer Wilson.

"It's tragic what happened, but we're all united and working together," said Tiffany Greene. "It's not a race thing, it's a right-or-wrong thing."

The scene -- which mixed in chants and sign-holders with live music -- was a stark contrast to earlier in the week. Police used tear gas, rubber bullets and armored equipment, and accused some protesters of throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails.

One demonstrator, Charla Griffin, noted the peaceful and communal nature of Friday's gatherings, saying, "We're having a good time in the name of Michael Brown."

It's seemingly no coincidence that things calmed calmed significantly Thursday, which was the day the state highway patrol took over security. Rather than confront protesters, Johnson figuratively and literally has embraced them.

Talking later to CNN, the highway patrol captain said he thinks this whole ordeal -- as it relates to race relations between communities and law enforcement, as well as how authorities respond to protests -- "will create change throughout our nation." For example, he expects there will be talk about diversity training and tactics.

"This is all over the world, and I think police chiefs are watching -- deciding what they need to do and what they need to do better," he said.